Advanced Search 
鏡に映る化粧美人
Woman Applying Makeup in Mirror
鏡に映る化粧美人
Kubo Shunman (Japanese, 1757–1820)
Japanese
Edo period
1808 (Bunka 5)
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Kokonotsugiri; 13.1 x 17.8 cm (5 3/16 x 7 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.19842
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
The elaborate hair ornaments of a high-ranking courtesan lie scattered on a lacquer chest. The woman’s face, reflected in the mirror, depicts her in the midst of her toilette. The flowered hairpins and the red and purple shibori fabric were elegant accessories that courtesans wore during the ritual New Year’s parades of the licensed pleasure quarters. The accompanying poems weave allusions to the first dream of the New Year—a dream that was supposed to foretell one’s fortunes for the coming year—and the activities of the pleasure quarters.
Catalogue Raisonné
Mizuta Museum, Surimono (2004), cat. no. 151
Signed
Unsigned
無款
無款
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)
NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.
NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.